Chapter 70
Chapter 70
Episode 70
Kwarreureung!
A deafening roar, loud enough to echo throughout all of [Scientia], reverberated.
The people moving about within the academy had been startled at first, but it wasn't long before they indifferently began to go about their business.
And there were two people listening intently to that roar.
"It was a bit intense today."
"Were you perhaps thinking of giving a slight warning, Saintess?"
"No."
Arietta and Olivia were on the campus terrace, listening to the roar as they chatted.
It seemed this wasn't the first or second time such a thing had happened, so the two didn't pay much mind to the source of the roar.
It was no doubt magic practice, anyway.
"Then, wouldn't it have looked as if I'd gone to find Oz, using it as an excuse because I wanted to meet him?"
"Were you entertaining such a thought?"
"...."
Arietta did not answer. Because she could not lie.
As the price for being able to see through people's lies, whenever she told a lie, a pain that constricted her heart would invariably assail her.
Even the most trivial of lies had that effect.
"You couldn't have been unaware that silence also serves as an answer... Besides, considering your usual behavior, there's also this feeling of 'why now, of all times'..."
"Can't you just pretend you didn't notice?”
Arietta complained, slumping over the table.
Olivia, as if accustomed to it, placed the herbal tea she had prepared in front of the sprawled-out Arietta.
"Then, what were you going to do?"
"I wasn't going to go... because I needed to practice."
Arietta had been thinking something as she watched Oz, who always returned covered in blood.
She too wanted to step forward, not just be protected by someone.
To be precise, she had wanted to alleviate, even if just a little, the strain they were under.
"Yes."
Olivia smiled at Arietta's demeanor and drank her tea.
Arietta, who had been sprawled out, also began to sip the tea that was starting to cool.
Once this brief tea time ended, they would have to move again. While the two were making such plans and drinking their tea,
-Hey! You soooooons of biiiiiiitcheeeees!!
For some reason, what sounded like Oz's voice, full of anger, seemed to drift over.
'Huh? Ah, no. It must have been my imagination, right?'
'It was a roar that seemed as if one could hear emotions in it.'
The two of them casually dismissed it, reasoning that the Oz they knew would never utter such vulgar curses.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After the tea time thus concluded, the two of them moved to the training ground and then took their stances facing each other.
"Hup."
"Shall we begin right away?"
"Yes."
The weapon Arietta chose this time was a rapier.
Originally, she had wanted to use a large battle hammer like Lucia Dominé, who was both the Pope and her godmother, but her physical strength was far too weak for that.
'Indeed... the Saintess's stance was not bad.'
Her unmoving stance, sword in hand. Arietta seemed like a solid fortress, so much so that even to Olivia's eyes, no opening was visible.
In the first place, she was a Saintess who healed and protected allies.
Even if not to the extent of a guardian class, when it came to protecting herself, she could do so as well as anyone else.
'The problem, however, was...'
It was the moment Arietta was about to charge towards Olivia, who clutched her shield.
"Ah!"
Arietta, having run merely about three paces, tripped over a stone.
"Oof!"
And just like that, she fell with a thud.
"Uh, I'm dizzy."
"Haa..."
Olivia, watching this, felt utterly dismal.
Arietta could perceive the world even though she could not see.
It was a radar-like method, where she scattered her vast divine power around her to detect anything entering that domain.
The problem was that she was the center of that domain. If she, the center, moved intensely, the domain itself would inevitably become disrupted.
For her, the domain shaking was tantamount to the world itself shaking.
Therefore, she couldn't even discern what was right in front of her.
One could say it had been inevitable that Arietta, who had been a tomboy, would become a mature and demure woman.
And Arietta's problems were not just that.
"As expected, moving the body doesn't seem to suit the Saintess..."
"N-no, if I try, it'll work out."
"...You still can't take more than five steps, can you."
She was terribly unathletic.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Tia, with the final exams approaching, had gathered the faculty members once and was holding a meeting.
"Alright, thank you for gathering despite your busy schedules. So..."
Kwang!
An explosion that broke the flow. However, Tia maintained her smile and waited for the explosion to stop. It wasn't the first or second day this had happened, so she just took it in stride.
"Ahem, ahem. So, the reason I gathered you all this time was because I thought there was something I needed to say about the final exams."
The purpose of the meeting was because she thought some adjustments were necessary to finish this semester well.
"Things have been chaotic recently with Gerard's and Prudence's matters, haven't they?"
Besides that, there had also been the [Death King]'s invasion and the incident where the ‘Outer Being’ ran rampant, but she didn't bother to mention those points.
Because the main purpose of the current meeting was preparation for the final exams, not those other matters.
"First, Discreet and Aira. I'm sorry, but it would be good if you two could pay a little more attention to the students."
Evidently, two professors were absent, and although Discreet and Aira were filling in that gap, it couldn't be helped that the existing classes and methods had changed.
"Aira, I do feel sorry for making you do so much work. But right now, you're the only elder-level mage here, you see?"
"It's alright. I can't just keep staying in the same place either."
"...."
Tia looked uncomfortably at Aira, who wore a resolute expression as if she had resolved to do something. Something was strange.
'The atmosphere around her somehow seemed closer to that of a student taking an exam...'
Was there really a need to go that far when creating exam questions?
Tia, feeling uneasy, grabbed a nearby professor and whispered.
"Why is she like that?"
"She did say she was going to show how much she herself has grown so far in the intermediate magic studies practical exam..."
"Why is she showing that?"
Tia was confused.
At a time when it wouldn't be enough to just guide and look after the students, what was she thinking of doing by demonstrating her own growth?
Was she planning on crushing the students with her full power, or something?
No, she knew. Actually, she did know. Tia had an idea who could make Aira act like that. ...She couldn't help but have an idea.
Pajijijijijik!!!
Just then, outside, the magic of the individual presumed to be that person was brightly coloring the world.
'Oz, this bastard, really...'
He was causing a ruckus all over the place. It was so infuriating that murderous intent welled up.
"Ah, and Discreet. You're still only teaching basic combat skills, but it would be good for you to attend the advanced swordsmanship class exam this time. This isn't a demand, I just think it would be good for you to do so."
Discreet, instead of answering, gave a light nod.
What Tia was saying concerned the students' distrust of the enigmatic Discreet.
As Discreet was from the intelligence department, few people knew his true identity.
This was Scientia, after all. There were even a few arrogant students who questioned Discreet's qualifications.
Therefore, it was a demand for him to prove how he could have become a professor.
"Ah, and about the group competitions this time. The practical training and parties..."
Kwaaaaaang!
"No, why is this bastard acting up every time I'm about to forget?"
Tia finally reached the limit of her patience with the explosions that kept interrupting the flow of the meeting.
"Just wait here for a moment, everyone."
With those words, Tia threw herself out the window.
It was a moment when all the faculty members were flustered by her sudden and impulsive decision.
Kwang!
An explosion, incomparable to the previous ones, seemed to sound once, and then the world sank into silence.
"I persuaded him well and made him shut up, so it should be fine now. Shall we continue?"
When Tia returned a short while later, no one questioned her. If she said she had persuaded him, then even if his neck had been snapped off, it was persuasion.
"Now, then, where were we? Ah, right. First off, all practical training and group competitions for this time are canceled."
Faced with Tia's radical declaration, the professors' reactions were sharply divided.
There were those who couldn't understand, and those who thought it was only natural.
"The ambiguous thing is, an incident occurred during the practical training, and an incident also occurred during the midterms. Safety aside, their understanding of the coursework is remarkably low."
During the practical training, it could have been dismissed as the personal deviation of Oz and Gerard, but the midterms were different.
There had been the [Death King]'s large-scale invasion.
Since they hadn't been able to properly finish anything, there was a problem with concluding it all with this one exam.
"So, for practical training or group competitions, it would be better to push them all to the second semester..."
Kwang!
It was the moment Tia was about to wrap up the meeting. As if the quiet of a moment ago had been a joke, explosions began to sound once more.
"...."
Kwakwakwakwang!
And they came in succession too.
It was the moment when all the faculty members, their complexions pale, were warily observing Tia. Her expression was distorted.
"...Just wait a moment."
"You mustn't! Lady Tiamat. You're going to kill a student!"
"I didn't say anything, you know?"
Tia, pushing back the forehead of the professor trying to stop her with a single finger, spread her wings once more.
"This time it seems like it'll take a while, so those who want to leave can go ahead. I'll send out a separate notice."
Kadeudeuk!
The candy Tia had been holding in her mouth was pulverized, stick and all.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
[Mana Dominator Lv. 3] was... yes, I didn't want to admit it, but for now, I'd say it was usable.
Even if the restrictions on advanced magic were immediately lifted, the fact that I still had to learn it meant I couldn't use it, but that wasn't the only effect of level 3.
[Mana dominance is enhanced.]
This simple and unhelpful message contained many meanings.
"The mana consumption has definitely decreased."
Even though I had surrendered my body to anger and spammed [Mana Dominator], it wasn't as difficult as before. If it were up to me, I would have wanted to rampage even more, but...
"You, if you keep that up, you'll die."
"Don't worry, Headmaster. I still have mana to spare. It wasn't that much of a strain."
"No, I mean, you'll die at my hands."
"...."
It seemed continuing would be impossible because of Tia, who had suddenly created a giant crater and given a warning.
In the face of a truly fiery temperament, my anger was rather pathetic. The flame within me quickly subsided.
"Haa..."
Thinking that, a belated fatigue seemed to wash over me.
It wasn't so much a lack of mana as it was mental exhaustion.
Kwang!
As I sat slumped on a nearby rock, dazed, another deafening roar soon followed.
"What was that?"
And as successive explosions sounded, I was able to understand.
"Ah!"
There were only about three first-year students now who could produce explosions of that magnitude. Me, Alexios, and Marie.
"It seems the magic tool has been completed."
That was Alexios' doing.
Because Marie, fundamentally, had strong introverted tendencies, so it was impossible for her.
It was probably a test run of the magic tool.
"However..."
Yes, that was Alexios' doing. The direction from which the noise came was different from the start.
"Why did you come looking for me?"
"No, I naturally thought it was you."
"That is prejudice."
Honestly, my feelings were a little hurt. How could she do this to me?
Even though I usually caused a lot of trouble, to come running to me as soon as something exploded was too much.
"I'm sorry about that."
"I've already been hurt. What do you intend to do about this tender heart of mine?”
"Shall I give you a good scorching, perhaps?"
"...I was just saying."
That damn fire-breathing lizard really couldn't take a joke.
"Anyway, this wasn't me. It was probably Alexios' doing."
"Yeah, looking at the direction, it seems like it. That kid was usually quiet, so why was he suddenly causing such a ruckus?"
"...."
At those words, I felt like my words were caught in my throat. If I thought about it, wasn't this, in a way, my fault?
"Oz."
"Yes, what is it..."
"Was it you, by any chance?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
I had to deny it here. If I got caught, I might have had to pay the price for my earlier impudence.
"Are you sure?"
"Shall I make a mana oath, then?"
I had to push hard.
Showing any weakness here would do no good.
Rather, by pushing hard, I could express my feeling of being unjustly accused.
"Do it."
But Tia was a formidable opponent.
"Go on, try it."
She was telling me to do this? For real?
While I hesitated like that, Tia's dragon eyes turned towards me. I was already caught.
"You can't do it, can you?"
"If you look at it one way, I can't say I'm entirely blameless, but actually, if you examine the exact circumstances..."
"You're being unusually talkative today, aren't you?"
Tia, who had been floating in the air, descended at those words and simultaneously slung an arm around my shoulder. Was she some neighborhood thug?
"Oz, follow me quietly. And relax your expression, as if nothing's wrong."
"No."
"Tsk! Relax your expression."
"...Yes."
No, it wasn't on the cute level of a neighborhood thug.
This felt closer to someone from the business dragging a credit defaulter who couldn't repay a loan shark off to a work site.